Jacket
by 2queens1prince
Summary: A one shot origin story based on a lilacmermaid prompt. Elizabeth is cold and Henry offers her his jacket.


AN: Just some fluff for your MSec Day! It's become very apparent that if I write too much fluff, I start to get twitchy. I have a couple more of these already written, but look for something more angsty in the future. Thanks to all who have left reviews on the past few one shots I've written. They brighten my day, and I'd love to hear what you think of this one.

Henry McCord stood in the hallway and checked his watch for the fourth time in as many minutes. Classes were about to be over and he was hoping to catch someone. Shifting his weight, he leaned against the wall and thought about the Origins of Eastern Religions class he had TA'd for the previous semester.

Henry was a first year grad student and had picked up the assistant position as a way to offset some of his costs. He expected a pretty boring semester of second year Religion majors and then she walked through the door on the first day, and sat directly opposite him in the circle of chairs he'd constructed to facilitate discussion.

Henry was immediately attracted to the young woman. Her shoulder length blonde waves framed her narrow face and her crystal clear blue eyes were piercing every time they made eye contact. He tried his best not to hold her gaze too long because he feared everyone in the class would figure out that his interest in her was not purely academic. Of course he never acted on those feelings. He felt it would be completely unethical to even attempt any sort of social relationship with a student in his class.

That didn't change his interest in her though. He thought she was so incredibly intelligent. It was obvious on the first day of class that she wasn't particularly religious, but she had a keen desire to learn about what motivated others. She was a quick study and became the most knowledgeable student in the class within the first month, which made Henry all the more attracted to her.

Henry was overjoyed when the semester was over and he spent much of his break thinking about how he might ask her out. He hoped she would say yes. As luck would have it, he saw her enter the humanities building on the first day of spring semester classes. He decided to wait outside the classroom and catch her as she left, which is what brought him to this moment.

The rush of opening doors and cold wind cutting through the stale hallway air, brought Henry out of his thoughts. Henry looked up to catch her walking out the door. He had to fight the crowd and it took him a minute to make it outside.

"Elizabeth," Henry called out, jogging to catch up with the blonde as she walked down the sidewalk away from the humanities building.

Elizabeth Adams turned at the sound of her name and flashed Henry a smile that stopped him in his tracks. She laughed and took the dozen steps back toward him, since it was obvious that he could move no closer to her.

"Hey Henry. How was your break? Classes going well?" she asked, but when he didn't answer, she gave him a questioning look. "Henry?"

Henry's mind was racing and he was having trouble standing this close to Elizabeth. It seemed he had lost the ability to put together a rational thought. "Will you go out with me?" The words fell out of his mouth and he immediately turned on his heel and smacked his forehead. "What in the hell?" he muttered under his breath and scrambled to try to find something to say to salvage the situation.

When he didn't turn around, Elizabeth tapped him on the shoulder. "This whole process tends to work better if you have eye contact with the person you are asking out." Henry sighed and turned to find her smiling at him. He gave her a sheepish smile in return.

"I guess I was a little nervous," he said. "My break was fine and maybe we could talk about what we did on break, say over dinner?"

"I think that would be fun, but is it okay for a TA to date an undergrad?" she asked. Elizabeth liked to know what the parameters were. She didn't always feel the need to follow them, but she wanted to be educated so she could make a reasonable case for disregarding them if need be.

"TAs aren't supposed to date their students. Since you are no longer my student. I am completely free and clear to ask you on a date,' Henry said.

Elizabeth laughed and winked at him, "You mean you would have asked me before now if I hadn't been your student."

"Absolutely!" Henry said with certainty.

"When do you want to go on this long overdue date?" Elizabeth felt happiness bubbling up in her chest, because, while she didn't think she was ready to admit it to him, she found her former TA very attractive, and smart, and funny.

"How about tomorrow night at 7? Do you like Chinese?" he asked.

"I like food," Elizabeth replied, suddenly shivering as a gust of frigid wind cut right through her parka. Henry could barely resist the urge to pull her close.

"I should let you go. It's chilly out here. Where am I picking you up?" Henry asked, as Elizabeth took a step backwards to head in the direction she started.

She grinned and turned, calling out over her shoulder. "Dabney, 7 o'clock, tomorrow, Chinese. I'll be waiting."

Elizabeth was out of sight before Henry was able to move. The smile on his face was a mile wide as he headed back into the building.

On opposite ends of campus the following evening, both Henry and Elizabeth were pacing. Henry wore black jeans and a button down shirt with a sweater pulled over it. He looked in his closet three times trying to decide if he was too overdressed. He wanted to look nice, but he didn't want to take the chance of dressing nicer than Elizabeth. He sighed and sat down on his couch, willing himself to calm down.

Elizabeth wore black leggings with a blue shirt dress, black boots and a black belt. She put her hair up, then down, then back up again and finally decided on down with the sides clipped back. She tossed her leather jacket over her shoulder and headed downstairs to wait in the lounge near the front door. It was 6:50 when there was a knock at the door and someone walking by opened it, letting Henry in. Elizabeth met him in the doorway and he smiled. "You look beautiful."

"You're pretty handsome yourself, Mr. McCord. Are you ready to eat? I'm starving." He nodded and led her to his car, opening the door for her and letting her choose the radio station. She switched it off, insisting she'd rather talk instead. It wasn't far to the restaurant, but they chatted and Henry couldn't remember when it had been so easy to talk to someone he didn't know.

They sat on adjacent sides of a small square table, close enough that her knee was touching his. Several times while talking, Henry placed his hand on her forearm and she couldn't say she was upset about it. It was actually quite the opposite, she was very attracted to him and she felt excited whenever he touched her. The conversation was nonstop as they talked about classes, professors, parties, friends and then Henry started to talk about his family. After he told her about his parents and his sisters and brother, he followed it with "what about you?"

It was an innocuous question, but one that Elizabeth dreaded every time it came up. "I only have my brother left. He's in boarding school. He's a senior this year."

Henry struggled to keep his expression even as he thought through the possible implications of her statement. "Your parents?" he started.

She finished the statement. "Died," Elizabeth said. "Car wreck. It's been a little over four years ago now."

Henry immediately wrapped his hand around hers, which happened to be sitting on the top of her thigh. "You are an incredibly strong and brave woman. I'm sure they would be so proud of you."

Elizabeth met his gaze and there wasn't the usual sadness or sympathy that she often saw. She saw kindness and hope. It filled her with a warmth that she hadn't felt in years, causing her to smile.

Once they received their food, she tried his shrimp and he tried her beef and they read their fortunes to each other, adding "in bed" for a good laugh, although the thought wasn't lost on either that they may actually be willing to entertain that someday.

Henry paid the bill and escorted Elizabeth out of the restaurant to the sidewalk. "Think it's warm enough to take a short walk?" She nodded her agreement and they set out in the opposite direction of the car.

The couple walked slowly down the street looking in the store fronts and talking. The wind picked up and Elizabeth shivered. Henry immediately turned them around to head them back to the car. "Here, take my jacket," he said, starting to tug his coat off his shoulders.

"Actually," she said, placing her hand on his arm to stop him, "How about this instead?" She pulled his arm out and stepped into his side wrapping his arm around her waist.

"Are you sure you're warm enough?" Henry asked, looking down at Elizabeth. Her eyes sparkled and she smiled at him.

"I'm very warm now. Thank you." She stopped suddenly jolting Henry to a stop a step ahead of her. He let her go, his face covered with a worried expression. "Am I being too forward? I don't want to make you uncomfortable." Henry grinned at her. Stepping back, he slipped his arm around her once again and pulled her close.

"This is very comfortable," he said, resting his cheek on the top of her head for a couple paces. They walked to the car in silence and as he pulled the car out into the street, he placed his arm on the console. She immediately her fingers in his.

Walking her to the door of her building, he spoke. "I had a nice time tonight Elizabeth. Thanks for letting me take you out."

She blushed under his intent gaze. "I had a good time too. Maybe we could do it again sometime?" she offered.

"I'd like that. I have to do a lot of reading tomorrow to make sure I stay ahead in my classes. I'll be in the library all afternoon. I mean if you have things to do, you could join me." Henry inwardly cursed himself for stumbling over his words.

"We'll talk about it then. I'll see you about 2." Elizabeth squeezed his hand where their fingers were joined. Henry pulled them a step closer together and placed a kiss on her temple.

"Until we meet again." Henry let her go and she opened the door.

She stepped inside and turned around. "Goodnight Henry," she said, letting the door fall shut. Neither Henry nor Elizabeth moved for the next several seconds. They were each taking in the warmth of their first evening together and looking forward to the next afternoon.

Madam Secretary Prompt: Henry & Elizabeth are out somewhere and she gets cold. He offers her his jacket, but she'd much rather have his arm around her.


End file.
